Two Asian American women lead GOP resurgence in Orange County; TJ Cox counting on late ballots

Young Kim, left, and Michelle Steel leading the charge for Repulicans in Orange County.

California is still a deep blue state and Democrats are not in danger of losing their grip on the nation's largest state. However, the GOP is not giving up if three Congressional races involving AAPI candidates are any indication. 

In 2018, Californians flipped seven Republican district to Democrat. This year, one returned to the GOP and two Republicans are leading Democratic incumbents.

Michelle Steel, a Korean American and chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, won her District 45 race against incumbent Rep. Harley Rouda, who won his seat in 2018.

Rouda issued a conceded late Tuesday morning with the following statement:.

"We did not win this election,'' Rouda said. "And while it isn't the outcome we had hoped for, it's never been more important for our leaders to hear the voice of the people, and to accept their judgment. I do."

Steel leads 50.9%-49.1% and 197,256-189,910. Steel also led 50.9%-49.1% entering Monday's count, 196,208-189,235, a margin of 6,973.

In Congressional District 39, in another part of Orange County, former state Assemblymember Young Kim is holding a slim lead over Democratic incumbent Rep. Gil Cisneros, with 51% of the vote vs. 49%.

The race is a rematch of 2018, when Cisneros narrowly defeated Young. 

If Young wins, she would join Marilyn Strickland, who won her Washington's District 10 seat and Michelle Steel as Korean American members of Congress. Prior to this election, there had never been a Korean American women Congressmembers.

Rep. TJ Cox is gaining on his Republican challenger.

Rep. TJ Cox, one of only two Congressmembers of Filipino descent, is behind challenger David Valadao by about 4,000 votes, but with only 46% of the votes tallied so far, the counting is far from over. 

The vote counting in District 21 has come to a temporary halt due to a COVID-19 exposure in Kings County, part of which lies in the district. Out of a concern of caution, the Kings County Elections Department was forced to close until Nov, 21. 

The pause in counting occurred just as the race was tightening.

Valadao is now leading with only 51.4% of the vote, compared to T.J. Cox's (D) 48.6%. According to the California Secretary of State's Election Results page. Last week, Valadao led 56% to 49%.

In addition to the ballots left to process, the counties could also still receive ballots that were postmarked by Nov. 3 and are received by Nov. 20.

“We still necessarily don’t have all the ballots in our office yet,” Kern County Clerk Mary Bedard said.

In 2018, when Cox beat Valadao, the race was the last race in the country to be decided. It looks like the same thing will happen again.

"We’ve been through this before," said Cox. "In 2018, my race wasn’t settled for 30 days. And in 2020, we’re in much the same situation. We owe it to the Valley to get this right, ensure each and every vote is counted, no matter who wins."

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this story misidentified the ethnicity of Michelle Steel.